Tripping and falling are common occurrences, and most people’s first line of defense is grabbing a bandage to cover the bruise or scar. Using a bandage isn’t the issue for most Black and Brown people. The problem lies in the “nude” tone not matching their skin tone.
In response, Rashid Mahdi and Intisar Bashir created a solution to solve this color-matching problem, reports Afro Tech.
In 2018, the husband and wife entrepreneurs launched Browndages, a company that sells a variety of skin-toned bandages. On a recent episode of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” the couple admitted that their brand didn’t have a lot of “buzz.” However, all of that changed in the summer of 2020 when social uprisings were happening all over the nation. There was an uptick in Black-owned business support and advocacy during that time, and Browndages reaped the rewards.
During that summer, the couple saw revenue go up to around $130,000 in just under a week’s time.
Fast forward and the couple has stood on national television explaining to the crew of “sharks” the impact, growth and strategy of the company. After their official pitch, the married business owners were able to gain the interest of three sharks — Lori Greiner, Daymond John and Mark Cuban.
Before sealing the deal officially, the sharks wanted to know how the company planned to keep up with the national competition. However, in the couple’s response, Bashir leaned on the ability to have competitive pricing.
Each Browndage box sells for $3.99 and only costs 63 cents to manufacture. The trio of investors agreed to a deal of $100,000 for an initial investment coupled with a $75,000 line of credit for business expenses.
Outspoken business mogul and owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban seemed to have a deep interest in taking his investment stake to the next level. He wants to make Browndages an official partner of the Mavericks to “extend into multiple communities, so they can all feel represented.”
This type of partnership aligns with Rashid and Intisar’s philosophy.
“We wanted to instill in our children and show them that even a product as small as a bandage should take you into consideration,” Bashir said.
